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Poll: Muslims no fans of Al Qaeda

On the eve of the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death, a new poll shows Al Qaeda has little support among Muslims in five countries — including Pakistan, where bin Laden was captured and killed by U.S. Navy SEALs.

A whopping 98 percent of Muslims in Lebanon have an unfavorable view of the terrorist group, while in Egypt, Jordan and Turkey more than 7 in 10 Muslims feel likewise, according to the Pew Research Center. In Pakistan, a slight majority of the Muslim community, 55 percent, have an unfavorable view, versus 13 percent favorable.

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Meanwhile, confidence in the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks weakened among Muslims around the globe in the years leading up to his death. The most notable decline was in Jordan, where, in 2005, 61 percent of Muslims said they were confident bin Laden would do the right thing; one year later, that figure had dropped to 24 percent. In Pakistan, 52 percent of Muslims said in 2005 they had confidence in him, but by 2011 only 21 percent said so.

In a late-night statement to the nation last year, Obama called the death of bin Laden “the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda,” but also cautioned that “Al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us.” He’s been criticized recently for making a campaign ad about bin Laden’s death.

The Pew Research Center poll, with margins of error ranging from 4.2 to 5.2 percentage points, was conducted March 19-April 13 among 1,000 Muslims in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, 1,206 Muslims in Pakistan and 1,001 Muslims in Turkey.

Readers' Comments (11)

On the eve of the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death, a new poll shows Al Qaeda has little support among Muslims in five countries

And it's no surprise. Because of Al Qaeda now we pile all muslims under "terrorists" We get nervous if we see them boarding planes, even if they are regular, decent citizens. Nobody cared about them before that, and they lived in relative peace among everybody else.

Unfortunately they owe that treatment to Al qaeda and Osama Bin Ladin It is going to be a long time before we stop sterotyping all muslims, because of the fear that any of them may be a terrorist ready to blow himself or herself in the name of whatever their god's name is.

It would be such a help to U.S. foreign policy if a majority of Americans could learn to distinguish between Muslims and terrorists -- or between Muslims and Arabs -- or between Shiiites and Sunni Muslims. But that's not going to happen anytime soon.

rockribbed all you right wingers have stories about how you saw all these muslims dancing in the street during 9/11. and its only right winger that saw the dancing muslims. none of you even live near any muslims. i am muslim and i live near many of them in new york and let me tell you. they were devastated in the morning when they saw it happen and terrified at night when they figured out who had done it because they didnt know what was going to happen to them. my mother told me she wasn't going to let me leave the house for at least two week even if it meant me dropping out of college.

Well, golly, see !! Yes, we have to be careful, but let's not take it to the point of bigotry, and delusions. Our President actually has the upper hand in foreign policy, because he can relate in his diplomacy. He had two fathers that were Muslims. Yes, he is familiar with it, but he does not practice it. He is a Christian. They are very good people. We have some where I live. They're disgusted with the radicals too.

Muslim terrorists will strike again around the world. Not if, but when. Not all Muslims are terrorists, but most terrorists of the world's population are Muslim. Try to spin it any way you want, you can't escape the truth.

Survey shows no love lost for AlQaida in Pakistan. It may be a late realization but a welcome one where Western medias propaganda branded all Pakistanis terrorist supporters if not terrorists themselves. Thanks after OBL his family is gone too and this is some relief for Pakistanis. Let US & CIA take all credit for finding and killing OBL. Since the time OBL was brought to Pakistan, till today Pakistan has suffered and paid a heavy price. Let us not forget that these terrorists under the leadership of OBL were strengthened, nurtured, equipped, financed and made fighters by US under the leadership of OBL who was imported from the holy land of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan, so he is instantly accepted by the mujahiden and this outfit won US war against USSR, and for over 25 years Pakistan has paid the price. In this process Democracy in Pakistan once again got sabotaged. While this poor world will never be able to pay for Americans to continue to remain No.1 nation of the world, Strengthened Democracy in Pakistan is the key to solving the problems in this region.

Survey shows no love lost for AlQaida in Pakistan. It may be a late realization but a welcome one where Western medias propaganda branded all Pakistanis terrorist supporters if not terrorists themselves. Thanks after OBL his family is gone too and this is some relief for Pakistanis. Let US & CIA take all credit for finding and killing OBL. Since the time OBL was brought to Pakistan, till today Pakistan has suffered and paid a heavy price. Let us not forget that these terrorists under the leadership of OBL were strengthened, nurtured, equipped, financed and made fighters by US under the leadership of OBL who was imported from the holy land of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan, so he is instantly accepted by the mujahiden and this outfit won US war against USSR, and for over 25 years Pakistan has paid the price. In this process Democracy in Pakistan once again got sabotaged. While this poor world will never be able to pay for Americans to continue to remain No.1 nation of the world, Strengthened Democracy in Pakistan is the key to solving the problems in this region.